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Election By-Laws 2019

Denver Young Democrats (DYD) Elections will be held every year in February.

All election matters will be the responsibility of the Election Committee.

The Election Committee will be made up of the outgoing DYD board members. In addition, the Chair of DPOD may appoint at least one additional member to the election committee so long as the total number of appointments shall be 1 less than the total number of outgoing board members, resulting in an odd number of members on the Election Committee.

Roles/Actions- one member of the Election Committee will be responsible for each role.

Validate online votes on an ongoing basis beginning the day ballots are released to the membership, with the advice and consent of the Election Committee.

Create the online and in-person voting forms, with the advice and consent of the Election Committee.

Responsible for all Facebook posts and email blasts relating to the election, with the advice and consent of the Election Committee.

Introduce each candidate on the night of in-person voting and shall announce the results for each race if the results can be determined in the allotted time.

Vote counting shall commence on the night of in-person voting until 9:00 p.m. and will be completed the following day as necessary. The Election Committee will be responsible for vote counting. The rules for monitoring of the count are listed in Section 5.7.

All other activities related to the DYD election shall be the responsibility of the Election Committee.

Voter Eligibility

All eligible DYD members (Democrats registered in the City & County of Denver under 36- DOB 2/21/1982) may vote in the election if they are current dues-paying members by 8:00 p.m. on the night of the election.

Online memberships will be accepted until 5:00 pm the night of the election.

In-person memberships will be accepted until 8:00 pm on the night of the election.

Candidate Eligibility

All candidates must be a current, eligible DYD member at the time of the election in order to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI).

Candidates must submit a LOI by 5:00 p.m. 10 days before the election.

All eligible candidates who have submitted a Letter of Intent by the deadline will be listed on both the printed and online versions of the ballot.

The ballot shall not be altered after being finalized by the Election Committee and released 7 days before the election.

No known declared candidates shall be excluded from being publicized when all other candidates are being publicized.

Voting Process

Online voting will open 7 days before the election and will close at 5:00 p.m. the night of the election.

All online voters shall provide the following information on their ballot.

Full Voting Name

Nickname/Preferred Name (Optional)

Date of Birth

Full Voting Address

Preferred Email Address

Preferred Phone Number (Optional)

A checkbox affirming that the voter is a current DYD member who is younger than 36 years old at the time of the election.

A date/time stamp shall be included with each recorded vote.

Under-voting shall be permitted on the online voting form and the paper ballot.

A confirmation notice shall be automatically generated notifying the voter that their vote was submitted and informing them about the process by which their vote shall be validated and when they will notified of the need to cure their ballot.

The Elections Committee shall monitor online votes as they are submitted to ensure they were cast by eligible voters, as defined in Section 2.

If a voter has been found to be ineligible or cannot be validated by a check with the Secretary of State website, they will receive an email within 24 hours of their vote being submitted with instructions for curing their ballot.

A ballot may be cured by submission of a screenshot of the proper SOS voter profile sent via email to any Election Committee member or through the DYD Facebook page.

Curing of a ballot shall not include changing any vote that has been cast, including any undervote.

The online voting form shall become inactive at 5:00 p.m. on the night of the election. Any vote cast online after that deadline shall not be counted, and the voter shall be instructed to vote in-person.

In-person registration and voting will open at 6:00 p.m. on the night of the election.

All in-person voters shall sign-in before receiving a ballot.

The sign-in sheet shall include:

Full Voting Name

Date of Birth

Affirmation of DYD Membership

Checkbox for having voted online

Checkbox for having received an in-person ballot

All in-person ballots shall include and require the same information as the online ballot form.

Under-voting shall be permitted on the in-person ballot.

The first vote cast by each eligible voter shall be the only vote that is counted.

A change in voting preference shall not be permitted, including an undervote.

No person who voted online before the deadline shall be permitted to vote in-person even if they under-voted.

In the event of a 2-way tie for first place after all ballots have been counted and cured, as detailed in Section 5, Subsection F, there shall be a coin toss to determine the winner. This shall take place at the post-election ballot curing meeting the day after the election and both candidates will be given the opportunity to attend that portion.

In the event of a tie for first place between 3 or more candidates, the same process shall be completed by a drawing of lots in place of a coin toss.

Membership List

The Election Committee shall do an initial validation check of the current membership list before ballots are distributed.

The initial validation check will be done with VAN.

All votes shall be validated via Secretary of State website using the Date of Birth provided with each vote.

The list, as checked by the committee, shall be viewable to all candidates who have submitted a Letter of Intent by the deadline beginning 7 days before the night of the election.

Email addresses shall not be included per Democratic Party rules.

A list of voters found to be ineligible shall also be provided in the same format.

Election Timeline

Notification of Election Timeline/Rules: At least 12 days before the election.

Deadline for Candidate Letters of Intent: 10 days before the election.

Current DYD Membership List Provided to Candidates: 7 days before the election.

Online Voting Begins: 7 days before the night of the election.

Online Voting Ends: At 5:00pm on the date of the election.

Election Day Procedures:

In-Person Registration/Voting: 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Each eligible candidate who has submitted a Letter of Intent by the deadline listed in Section 5, subsection b, shall be be permitted time to address all those present for in-person voting.

The results of the election shall be announced the same night if the winner can be determined in the allotted time. If the results are unclear after 9:00 p.m., the results will be announced via email and Facebook post after the Election Committee has met to cure and count remaining ballots the day after the election.

A representative of each candidate shall be permitted to monitor the process for any count/recount of votes or curing of ballots on the night of in-person voting and the night of post-election ballot curing, if necessary. All campaigns shall be notified of such opportunities before they occur.

No candidate may be present for either process and no candidate shall see how any voter cast their ballot for any DYD board position until the winner has been declared.

Communications

The Election Committee shall provide the following notices through the election:

An email announcing the election date, deadline for Letters of Intent, and election rules.

A Facebook event created announcing the election date and deadline for Letters of Intent.

All election rules and procedures will be posted on the DYD facebook page, DYD election event page, and DYD website.

An email/facebook post reminding potential candidates of the deadline for Letters of Intent at least 10 days before the in-person election and on the day of the deadline.

An email and facebook post providing the link to the online voting form.

An email and facebook post with election reminders/details and any relevant updates as needed throughout the election process.

All current DYD board members seeking re-election shall be removed from admin access to all communications platforms associated with the Denver Young Democrats upon announcement of the election.